The present invention relates to an elevator with several self-propelled cars and at least three adjacently situated vertical elevator hoistways, and to a method of operating such an elevator.
The elevator according to the present invention provides several approaches to arranging the elevator hoistways of an elevator installation. Several examples are shown in a diagrammatic plan view in FIGS. 1A–1D.
In FIG. 1A, two vertical elevator hoistways 1 and 2 are shown, which are situated adjacently. In each of the two hoistways 1 and 2, at least one elevator car 3 moves up and down. Each of the hoistways 1 and 2 has a hoistway door 4.
In FIG. 1B a further arrangement is illustrated, which shows two vertical elevator hoistways 5 and 6, which hoistways are situated adjacently. Along the depth of the hoistway, each of the elevator hoistways 5 and 6 has two sections of hoistway situated one behind the other. An elevator car 3, which moves in the front section of one of the hoistways 5 and 6 (as shown in the left hoistway 5), serves the hoistway doors 4. An elevator car 3, which moves in the back section of one of the hoistways 5 and 6 (as shown in the right hoistway 6), does not afford access to any of the hoistway doors 4. There can be several of the elevator cars 3 in circulation.
The Japanese patent application publication number JP 6080324 shows an arrangement with two adjacently situated hoistways, similar to that shown in FIG. 1B. Different than in FIG. 1B, along the depth of the hoistway, each of the elevator hoistways has three sections of hoistway situated one behind the other. Only the front section of the hoistway has access to the hoistway doors, in a manner similar to FIG. 1B. An extension of the concept according to FIG. 1B is seen in the Japanese patent application publication number JP 6080352. Along the depth of the hoistway, the arrangement according to JP 6080352 has several hoistway sections and horizontal or sloping crossing-points. There are hoistway doors both in the front hoistway wall (as in FIG. 1B) and in the back hoistway wall. The elevator cars must therefore have access openings on two opposite sides.
A further arrangement of the elevator according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1C. This arrangement has one vertical elevator hoistway 7. Left and right in this elevator hoistway 7, the elevator cars 3 can be moved up and down. In a central hoistway section 9, there are no hoistway doors 4. There are two different approaches to transportation which can be realized in such a hoistway 7. Either the central hoistway section 9 is used only for transferring the elevator cars 3 from left to right, or vice versa, or the central section 9 is used for vertical transportation and/or for parking the elevator cars 3.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,155, an arrangement is described which is comparable with the variant shown in FIG. 1C. According to this U.S. patent specification, the central section between the left hoistway section and the right hoistway section is used for temporarily parking the elevator cars. The elevator cars move along a central transportation arrangement. An elevator car can be disengaged and parked in the central section.
The Japanese patent application publication number JP 09077418 shows an arrangement with three adjacently situated hoistway sections, similar to that shown in FIG. 1C. The left section of the hoistway is used for upward trips, and the right section of the hoistway is used for downward trips. The central section of the hoistway is used for fast downward trips, but has no hoistway doors for boarding or exiting. Behind the three adjacently situated sections of hoistway, in both the headroom and the pit, there is a connecting hoistway for the purpose of transferring the cars between the three vertical sections of hoistway. In the right and left sections of hoistway, the elevator cars are moved together as a group in a vertical direction. In the central section of hoistway, an autonomous vertical movement is possible.
The Japanese patent application publication number JP 2000185885 shows an arrangement with four adjacently situated sections of hoistway, similar to that shown in FIG. 1C. A significant difference is to be seen in that the sections of hoistway are arranged separately, and only connected by sloping crossing-points.
A variant of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1C is outlined in FIG. 1D. The hoistway 7 has three complete sections of hoistway which are situated adjacently. Not only the left and the right sections of hoistway have hoistway doors 4, but the central section of hoistway also has hoistway doors 8.
With regard to the drive of the elevator cars 3, there are two different basic approaches. Either the elevator cars 3 are conveyed together at least in the vertical direction, or the cars can be moved individually. The latter approach results in additional flexibility.
A disadvantage of some of the known hoistway arrangements is that when the elevator cars cross over from one travel path to another, or when they change over from one elevator hoistway to the other elevator hoistway, the elevator cars containing passengers undergo lateral acceleration. Such lateral acceleration is unpleasant for the passengers being transported. Such changeovers are also associated with strong vibrations, which can be experienced as disturbing. These factors can cause passengers to feel insecure, especially since the passenger is in an enclosed car and has no visual contact or reference to the outside.
On the other hand, other arrangements require a relatively large amount of space, without significantly increasing the transportation capacity, or else the constructional cost outlay is large. Some of the known arrangements require stopping places and/or hoistway doors on several side walls of a hoistway. From the constructional standpoint, this is costly. Furthermore, on changing direction, or when changing cars, passengers must under certain circumstances walk around a hoistway to board another elevator car.